TWISTED LIMB PAPERWORKS and THE ENVIRONMENT
Twisted Limb Paperworks, LLC
 

PAPER RECYCLING TIDBITS:
  • One-third of all land fill waste is paper, something that is so easily recycled!
  • Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.--enough to heat 50 million homes for 20 years.
  • With the average wedding using 8 pounds of paper and 2 million weddings, 16 million pounds of paper is used in the U.S. each year to send out wedding invitations.
  • Recycling of each ton of paper saves 17 trees, 7000 gallons of water and 10,785 kilowatt-hours of electricity.
  • Production of recycled paper uses 80% less water, 65% less energy and produces 95% less air pollution than virgin paper production.
  • If offices throughout the country increased the rate of two-sided photocopying from the 1991 figure of 20% to 60%,they could save the equivalent of about 15 million trees.

Twisted Limb would like to thank the following organizations for recycling their used office paper with our studio:

Twisted Limb is about more than just making 100% recycled products. We incorporate sustainability into all aspects of our business. . . .

The paper from which your invitations is made is crafted in our woodland studio in the heartland of America, using some combination of recycled office paper, junk mail, used grocery bags, and even cardboard boxes. By doing so, we will recycle approximately 1500 pounds of paper this year.

No additional dyes are used to tint the paper. Colors are obtained directly from the materials being recycled.

Our paper is embellished with ferns, flowers, and raffia flecks. We organically grow and ethically harvest from our woods a portion of the ferns going into our papers. We will begin organically growing at least a portion of the flowers going into our papers in 2009.

Stems from the dried flowers that go into your paper are either used to bind our twig guest books or they are composted.

Water used in the paper making process is recycled from the studio's dehumidifiers and air conditioner whenever possible to conserve this essential resource. We recycle approximately 2700 gallons of water each year.

Envelopes, reply cards, and cardstock invitations are 100% recycled.

Envelopes, reply cards, cardstock invitations and 70%cellulose/30%PCW recycled vellum are all processed without chlorine. Some are also manufactured carbon neutral.

We print out invitation drafts, e-mail requests, etc. on scrap paper, using both sides to a piece of paper (This conserves approximately 290 pounds of paper every year.) before recycling it back into your invitations and stationery. Any paper that we can't recycle into new products gets recycled with Monroe County Solid Waste Management District. We recycle approximately 1250 pounds of paper this way annually.

100% of the cardboard, glass, aluminum, and plastic used at our facility is also recycled with Monroe County Solid Waste Management District.

Of course, all office paper and envelopes, file folders, toilet paper, and facial tissue used at Twisted Limb are 100% recycled. Organic fair trade coffee and organic half and half are served in our office as well.

Our catalogs, business cards, and customer thank you notes are stitched with organic cotton thread.

We pack your order with recycled shredded paper.

Our staff maintains an employee garden so that we can enjoy local organic produce. The produce is split evenly among employees with a portion going to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.

22% of our profits is donated to environmental and community groups each year.
10% is given as cash donations. 12% is given in the form of in-kind contributions.

Our favorite local groups:
Sycamore Land Trust, Habitat for Humanity, Middleway House, Girls, Inc., and WFHB Community Radio.

Our favorite national groups:
The Nature Conservancy, National Parks Conservation Association, Human Rights Campaign

Our favorite international group:
FINCA (micro loans to women business owners in developing countries)

Twisted Limb is carbon neutral. We offset 100% of the carbon dioxide created by running our facility, shipping activites, employee commuting and business travel by investing in renewable energy through Native Energy.

WHY USE CHLORINE FREE PAPER?

Dioxins, one of the most deadly families of compounds known to humans, are created when chlorine bleaches are used to treat lumber or paper pulps, and also during incineration of other compounds. Although most organochlorine compounds are produced intentionally, they can also be produced unintentionally. Organochlorines do not break down easily. They are remarkably persistent and long-lasting. Studies show that organochlorine compounds can last for decades, hundreds, even thousands of years. Hundreds of millions of pounds of these substances are released into the environment annually, causing harm to wildlife, ecosystems and human health. They have been implicated in cancers, reproductive disorders, hermaphroditism, neurobehavioral impairment and reduced intelligence capacity. These Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) resist breakdown in sunlight and persist for years. They are "fat-loving", which means they accumulate in body tissue and move up the food chain. We do not know how long we can continue to create molecular-level toxic garbage that floats in the air, seeps into our water, lodges in the fat, targets our genes, and interacts with biological evolution, before life as we know it is irrevocably altered. . .

-Taken from Ecology of Commerce

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© Copyright 2007. Twisted Limb Paperworks. All rights reserved.
P.O. Box 2122 | Bloomington, IN 47402  |  p: (812) 876-9352  |  f: (812) 876-9361  |  Hours of Operation: Mon-Fri 9am-5pm EST  |  info@twistedlimbpaper.com